District 5050 Membership

Posted by Gary O'Rielly 
on Mar 09, 2014
 
The last few weeks I have given brief overviews of the District Membership Seminar and the three sessions at PETS (President-Elect Training Seminar). This past week, we asked Linda Murray, District 5050 Membership Committee Chair to visit us and discuss the importance of membership and retention. Both go hand in hand. Linda is no stranger to our Club. She has done numerous visits over the years.
 
Linda comments were about "How to Grow It and How to Keep It" and why it is relevant. A little background on Linda. She is a product of Southern California trading sunshine for liquid sunshine. She is a graduate of the University of the Redlands with a degree in Business Management. She and husband Bill moved to Washington State in 1980. They own and operate Evergreen Security, an electronic security firm growing the firm from the two of them to fifteen serving thousands of customers both residential and commercial.

Linda has been involved in the South Everett Mukilteo Rotary Club since 1989. She served as the Club's president from 2000-2001. Bill was inducted into the Club during her first month as President. Numerous committee chairs in their Club and the District have followed and is currently serving on the District Visioning Team, is a member of the RLI faculty and is Assistant Governor for Area K and chairs the District membership committee.

Sharing Rotary is the District theme this year. There is a big push at Rotary International and the District to share Rotary with others who are interested in making a difference in their communities. Prior to her talk, our President, Jim Kelley inducted our newest member into our club. Darek Olson is our newest member and all of the Board members and the club members welcomed him into our club. More later in another article.

The District is challenging every club member to bring a guest at least once a quarter to a meeting. Right now the average age internationally of Rotary is 57. RI and the District goal is to target an average age of 52. Bring a Guest (BAG program) is another idea of the District. If you keep your Rotary monthly magazines, perhaps you could share those with friends and colleagues who might be interested in Service Above Self and growing their community. Another idea is to put your company logo on it, drop it off at a professionals office, like a doctor, dentist, attorney or medical facility. Carry the wallet cards, "Be my guest" showing the time and day your club meets.

Besides membership, RETENTION is the most important aspect of Rotary today. In 2005 there were 1,200,000 members worldwide. In 2013 there were 1,200,000 members worldwide so between 2005-2013 we lost 1,200,000 members for various reasons. Several reasons and a check list should be developed by each Club. Why do people join Rotary?

The goal for the District this year is an increase of 3% and Linda's goal is a net 1 for each club. Bring a guest next week to hear Maddy Metzger-Utt talk about the Greater Everett Community Foundation or the following week when Congresswoman Susan DelBene visits our club. Its up to each one of us. Our goal this year was to have a net two new members. We only need one more to meet this year's goal. Be the 12th man and help us grow our club.